Texans aim for title at Champions Tour stop

Published 7:00 pm, Monday, October 4, 2004

There is, however, one goal that still eludes the Kansas-born, Beaumont-reared Lietzke.

"I'd still like to win in Houston" said the Dallas resident.

He'll get another opportunity this week when the Champions Tour comes to Augusta Pines Golf Club for the Administaff Small Business Classic. The $1.6 million tournament not only heralds the return of the over-50 set to the Greater Houston area after a decade-long absence, it has attracted some of Texas' greatest golfing legends.

Lietzke is just one of several former University of Houston pros who'll be in town Oct. 4-10. John Mahaffey, Keith Fergus, Ed Fiori, Tom Jenkins, Bill Rogers and Fuzzy Zoeller will also give the 78-man field a tint of Cougar red.

Longhorn fans need not fret, however. The University of Texas will be well-represented with its two greatest golfing grads - Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw. With Abilene's Charles Coody (TCU), Waco native Dave Eichelberg and Miller Barber of Sherman among the 78-player field, this group of native and adopted Texans have combined for 163 PGA and Champions tour victories, 15 of them majors.

The ever-popular Lee Trevino of Dallas withdrew from the tournament late last week. Though the 54-hole event doesn't officially commence until Friday, pro-ams are scheduled at the par-72, 7,100-yard Augusta Pines course every day this week.

No doubt Mahaffey will be the busiest of the bunch this week. In addition to his role as the Champions Tour representative for both Augusta Pines and Administaff, Mahaffey will serve as an analyst during the tournament's telecasts on The Golf Channel. Of course, his role as unofficial host for his fellow Texas pros has already begun.

"I've talked to Mahaffey several times to try and pick his brain (about the course)," Lietzke said. "He says we're going to like the course. I know I'm looking forward to going back to The Woodlands area. We know how the people in The Woodlands know how to put on a great professional event. It's made those of us from Texas feel like it's a home away from home."

Mahaffey agrees that anticipation among his Lone Star pals is running high.

"Everyone I've talked to are very excited," he said. "I'm excited about these guys coming in. It's a great venue to play and I think they'll have a chance to shoot some low scores."

Of the Texans playing in the inaugural Administaff Small Business Classic, Lietzke, Jenkins and Fiori seem to have the best chance of winning the top prize of $240,000. Overcoming a rare condition known as "frozen shoulder" that sidelined him earlier this year, Lietzke resides among the top 20 money winners. Jenkins won the Blue Angels Classic in April, while Fiori, who resides in Sugar Land, collected his first Champions Tour title in March at the MasterCard Classic.

Lietzke has never hidden his affection for winning in Texas. During his tenure on the PGA Tour, he valued a sweep of all the Lone Star events more than any of the acknowledged major tournaments.

"I still consider Beaumont my hometown," Lietzke said. "I've had a lot of decent finishes in Houston (on the PGA Tour). Winning here would feel like a home victory to me.

"I feel good and healthy now," he continued. "It's just a matter of how quickly I get used a brand new course"

For decades, the University of Houston's golf program churned out so many quality pros the lack of a UH winner in Houston became known as the "Cougar jinx." That curse ended in 2003 with Fred Couples' triumph in the PGA Tour's Shell Houston Open.

So what if another Cougar were to win the Administaff Small Business Classic? Or another one of Texas' senior stars?